


See the horizon touch the ground

by Pintinhas



Category: Naruto
Genre: F/F, F/M, M/M, everybody - Freeform, no beta we die like men
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-11
Updated: 2020-06-20
Packaged: 2021-03-02 19:27:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,247
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24122110
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pintinhas/pseuds/Pintinhas
Summary: Everyone had their reasons for their actions and sometimes it wasn’t her problem, sometimes the best she could do was say goodbyes until she could go back to say hello’s.
Relationships: Haruno Sakura/Uchiha Sasuke
Comments: 1
Kudos: 21





	1. Hello's.

**Author's Note:**

> Hi!   
> I've been bedridden because of my bad shoulder, so since I couldn't get out of bed, I just decided to put my mind back to work.  
> I do not own Naruto.  
> Please, enjoy.

He didn’t know exactly what it was that made him patrol as the first lights of dawn touched the horizon, but there was a sudden itch to his skin, as if something important was about to happen. His traps and barriers were unbothered, and the forest seemed as cheery as usual, full of noises, but nothing out of the ordinary. 

He’d been on this land for  _ years,  _ he knew the outline of the forest with his eyes closed. The way the grassy heels stretched for miles before giving way to a massive forest, jammed and packed with trees, wild fauna and flora at its most unperturbed state, he knew where each animal held it’s home, where was each predator’s territory, he knew everything. And as he walked on, mindful of his steps so not to twist his ankles in an uprooted tree, or fall in a pray hole, he felt the twiddling, strange, but yet, somehow, familiar chakra signature. 

He had been eighteen years old when he bought this land, confused, angry, sad. These days he wasn’t any of that, this sort of apathy took place in his heart and he let it stay, too tired to keep the rage going on, relieved to let those matters rest in the past where they belonged. Now, many years later, he had gotten used to the solitude, found satisfaction in a life outside of the battlefields, still powerful and deadly, but this time he liked to believe he had found some sort of piece.

She was sitting in the mass of trees, back supported by the bark of a large maple tree, her legs were folded, elbows resting on her knees, head curved. There was blood, everywhere really, it covered bubblegum pink hair until it turned dark, her skin was covered on carmesin. Trembling fingers coated in crimson were haphazardly thrown in front of her body. And the way she breathed, wheezing, as if there was something constructing her airways. By the way she cradled her right side, probably a punctured lung. 

When she looked at him he froze, the same way a pray would stand still under the stare of a predator he found himself unable to move, green ferocious eyes stared at him unseeing, a snarl passing through her teeth, her chakra reached for him violently, killing intent as sharp as a spear, he would have gasped if his teeth weren’t clenched under the pressure, he could hear his own heartbeat, and could feel the air saturating with chakra.

She had always been small, he had never put her under the label of dangerous, she had been trustworthy, but he had never stopped to think before running to her aid, unsure whether she could handle herself, she had been innocent, there was a lot of courage hidden under those big eyes, but she was always someone he had to protect, someone that gave him the reason to run that extra mile, to take another punch. She had been always on the back of his mind. If he went down, how would she fare?

But now… Sakura stared at him, like he was a small and unprotected rabbit, and she the powerful, armed, with teeth and claws, wolf. Her chakra was dense and dangerous, she had calculist eyes, shaking hands suddenly stable, baring teeth at him, ready to take him on. 

He had always thrived in the atmosphere of battle, the adrenaline making him full with ecstasy, the simple thrill of it would have him smiling in anticipation. He was a man of violence, was born and raised under it. There were actually few times where he had gone into battle with fear coating his head. When he fought Itachi he had been terrified, when he fought Orochimaru for the first time, he had choked in his own fear. 

His fight or flight system had never choose flight, only once, that night when he watched his entire clan murdered, never after, but now, his body and brains angled him towards running away. Mind telling him that this wounded nin in front of him would kill him if he didn’t. 

His eyes turned red on their on, watching Sakura minutiously, waiting for the attack, but he urged his feet to keep still, mouth opening on it’s own. His heart tethered on his chest, lungs filling as he took courage to overcome the danger. 

Because it was Sakura, covered in blood, tiredly, staring at him like she would kill him if he moved more than a finger, and for once he believed her. 

“Sakura.” He called, voice steady despite his trembling limbs.

Maybe it was because it was the closer he had come to his past for the last three years or so, maybe because she was so far away from the soft, caring, loving Sakura he had remembered. Maybe because she wasn’t wearing the pained frown she used to wear when he had seen her after his defection. She stared at him now, like he would do to any suspecting shinobi, like someone he had never seen in life.

She breathed, slowly, painfully. And just as slowly, he watched as she stood. Her clothes were covered in filth and blood, her hair fell to her hips, long, probably just as silky as he remembered feeling. Before it had been vanity, now it was a sign of power. Long tresses unbothered besides the wind and the blood stains. 

She looked at him then, really looked at him, as if she was opening the doors of his mind and picking his thoughts one by one, throwing them out of the window, baring him to the world. Her serious face morphed into something else, she closed her eyes, mouth relaxing into a smile, a snort leaving plump lips as she sagged against the three.

“Oh, would you look at who it is...” She whispered, breathy, face contorting as if it hurt to talk. Her eyes twinkled at him as she took steps toward him, she walked decidedly, with the grace of a feline. “Naruto spent years turning the world upside down looking for you.” She stopped a meter away from him, looking him up and down. “And you come to me,  _ just when  _ the shit hits the fan.” She laughed weakly, but truthly amused, her eyes conveyed something he had trouble grasping. 

Sakura watched him like she was delighted to see him, but also like it was too late.

It was, anyway. 

Too late. 

Everything had changed. They were children once, living like their dreams were everything that mattered in the world. Lost in their own minds and the reasons that justified the consequences of their actions. 

Nothing was that black or white now, he knew. 

They’ve grown up. 

She had loved him once, and he believed he had done the same, naive and young they had been taken by their emotions. He had known Haruno Sakura once in his life, but this woman, beautiful, deadly, convinced him that he was standing before a stranger that he once called family. Maybe not outloud, but it had teared his heart appart to leave them when he had decided his path as a teenager.

He would live with the ghost of his family following him for the rest of his life, but he had also tied Team 7 to his heart, burying them under layers of feelings as he left, never actually forgetting. 

He did not know this woman at all, even if he had known her once, in their far away childhoods. But he still held the memories he had had with her in his heart, cherishing it as they were precious and irreplaceable. 

So he did the best he could.

“Do you want some tea?” He asked, voice gentle like she had never heard before, his eyes, now back to that faded gray she knew had once belonged to his brother, staring right at her. He gave her his entire attention, he gave her his respect. 

For the first time in many years she let a genuine smile adorn her lips.

“Why not.” She replied. 

  
  


* * *

  
  


Sasuke’s house was tiny, but comfortable and functional. He had running water and electricity, an old refrigerator buzzed in the kitchen, there was a bookshelf in the living room, a television tucked in the corner of the room, the kotatsu was placed on top of a patterned carpet and his sofa was old and used, full of coloured cushions. 

Seventeen year old Sasuke would not have found usefulness in coloured cushions, she was sure he would never asked her if she wanted tea either. Sakura was sure that if she was seventeen years old Sakura, she would have punched him in the face, and then she would have screamed at him until both their ears were bleeding. 

Age had changed them. They had crashed into reality as adulthood came.

“Should I pick the first aid kit?” He asked from the stove, his back was broad, relaxed. 

Somehow, she convinced herself that this wasn’t a dream, it had been years since she had last thought about her wayward teammate, Sasuke was shoved to the back of her mind as other matters turned more important until he was forgotten in the memories of her past. It felt odd to see him in front of her.

“No need, it’ll go away in a bit.” She answered, perching herself over one of his chairs and watching as he moved around in the kitchen. 

Sakura felt satisfied, she didn’t have regrets, she had done what she could, the rest happened beyond her abilities, beyond her power. Sasuke placed a cup of tea in front of her and then offered her senbei in a beautifully crafted plate, taking a seat in front of her. He stared at her, she couldn’t stop herself from smiling fondly at him. His relaxed face reminded her of the days they spent running harmless D-ranks around the village. Better days.

“Mission?” His voice was always a surprise. When Sakura would dream of Sasuke, his voice would echo throughout the ambient, just like it had done when she first saw him after he had gone with Orochimaru. But his voice was calm, gentle in the ears, a velvety sound that she had never heard before. She smiled at him, resisting licking her dry lips, there was blood on the entire left half of her face. Most of it wasn’t hers. “No, left those behind.” 

His eyebrows drew arches in his forehead as he displayed his surprise and she left a chuckle out of her mouth. His masculine face distracted her away from their history, Sakura was too tired of being traumatized by his past actions, she had killed many people, she had blackmailed, maimed, poisoned, assassinated, who was her to judge him? She had tried to kill him, and he had done the same. He had never attacked her unjustified, so she had casted the trauma away, just like time had done to his image in her mind.

She had no time for the bad feelings. 

Not anymore. 

“Shishou and I’ve been out of Konoha for the last three years.” She mumbled taking a sip of her tea, she turned her head to the window, hand gesturing. “Everyone finds their paths eventually.” She looked at him, his eyes were watching the window, hands curling around his mug. 

She felt like she was ancient, both of them, as if all that action and violence that involved them as young children and teens had left them hanging. There weren’t lines in their faces yet, but there were some on their souls, she was sure, lines that bleed and hurt, aching inside them. She didn’t know exactly what life had stored for her, but she wasn’t worried anymore. 

“It just happens ours is out here, not inside the walls.” She whispered, eyes falling towards her dirty fingers.

Sasuke eyed her like one would watch a deity, some kind of reverence, but also the familiarity had him comfortable sitting with this woman in his kitchen. They sat in the quiet atmosphere, peacefully like he had never thought it would happen. 

Her eyes asked him how had he been and his stare answered her as asking the same. 

They were at the same time too close and too far away. 

He wet his lips in his tea as he sighed.

“How’s Naruto?” It loomed over them, a third part that would always be missing, Sasuke and Sakura could physically feel the hole Naruto left in their dynamic. If he closed his eyes he could imagine the blond sitting by his right side, slurping ramen or saying some piffle or other. He could almost picture Kakashi watching them fondly over the cover of his bright orange book. 

The past had made them who they were, and even if he was glad to leave it behind, he still missed some things. She softened under his stare, a smile blossoming on her lips, Sakura had grown old like a fine painting, beautiful and complicated. Still, soft on the eyes. 

“Last I heard of him he was wrecking some havoc on some undeveloped country.” She shook her head fondly, he traced his eyes over her thin frame. “Same old, same old.”

He chuckled, glad to hear it.

“Kakashi was roped as the Hokage.” She told him, eyes dancing as they watched the world by his window. “He hates it.” He snorted as he gathered their cups in his left hand and got up to set it in the sink. 

Kakashi had been running from the hat since they were learning to run up trees. Their teacher had been a man of action, the politics would make him miserable, but Sasuke was not surprised. He was one of the most loyal ninjas he had ever known in his life, one of the strongest too. 

He accosted himself on his sink and stared at Sakura. She was right, her breaths were soft, and even though she was covered in blood she seemed healthy. It had gone away on it’s own. He wouldn’t put past her to heal a punctured lung while chatting and sipping tea. She had been skilled in the battlefield, he still remembers seeing her shrug off impalement as if she had just gotten a papercut. 

Team 7 had happened to scoff at normal battles, they had turned powerful, big, strong. Kakashi had watched them with so much proudness after everything had ended. As they sat saying nonsense under the cloudless sky, sitting on the battlefield surrounded by monstrous creatures, like these were nothing out of their common.

In the end, they had turned like any other team, fond and familiar, just under higher proportions.


	2. Curious danger

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The bitter taste in her tongue made her rub her forehead sighing, the Kumo bingo book casting a guillotine over her apprentice’s head.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so I got out of bed rest, but was saddled with thousands of tests, since my uni is now making the students take classes and tests online from home.   
> I'm still having some issues on my shoulder and apparently the problem is coming from built pressure on my neck vertebrae, yaaay.   
> I wanted to write more for this chapter, really, but google docs wasn't even counting how many words were on it, so I figured it was too big.   
> I'm thinking of making weekly updates, but depending on how long my tests go I might extend that time frame.  
> Anyway, here's a very long chapter.  
> enjoy.

Tsunade eyed the curtains of the dingy hotel, sunlight streaming uncomfortable in her face, she had to blink several times before getting used to the light in the room. She had had too many drinks in her night before. Her mouth still sticky with the effects of hungover, a bad taste in her tongue. 

The sickness had taken it's high toll in her sleepless night. She rubbed the bleakness out of her eyes and climbed out of bed. 

Sakura’s letter had arrived just yesterday, but she had been too busy with booze to actually read it, now it sat quietly in her nightstand waiting as she drank some water and killed her headache. 

She had separated with the girl after some village had called for medical aid, Tsunade had overlooked it, Sakura had gone, still soft in the heart. 

Then the last bingo book had found its way into her hands, and Sakura's face floated over an kill on site. She had sent her apprentice an urgent letter through Katsuyu. No news came, not until she was too drunk to actually read something. 

Sakura's handwriting was curled around the page, as if she had scribbled in a hurry. It said she was on the run, but that she’d be fine. The bitter taste in her tongue made her rub her forehead sighing, the Kumo bingo book casting a guillotine over her apprentice’s head.

* * *

  
  


She eyed his motions with the knife, his elbow going up and down in a steady rhythm as he chopped vegetables for dinner. Sasuke had been gracious enough to offer her a bath and dinner. Now, dressed in fresh clothes, she had found place in his armchair, rubbing her hair dry with a towel. 

Slowly he had assembled dinner, she watched as he boiled the water for some unexpected shabu-shabu. It run through her mind that shabu-shabu was something that her mom would do for dinners when she would come home after some long mission or another. She smiled at the smell, remembering the dinners of her childhood. It was such domestic sight that it wrapped around her heart, making her watch it fondly, a good memory to remember afterwards. 

“What was all that blood about?” Sasuke had turned his neck towards and she grabbed a glance of his narcissus like profile. He turned right back, giving her a hook to keep the conversation going, she felt her eyes closing in sympathy, age had turned Sasuke into a better conversationalist, who would have thought so.

“Kumo put my name on the bingo book.” She answered, rubbing a wrap of pink hair locks with little vigour. “Kill on sight.” She wiggled her head to find another part of wet hair. “Of course they’d sent their ANBU operatives first, so I took them down and fled.” She covered her head with the towel and missed the fleeting glance Sasuke gave her, rattling the pot he was holding into the stove top.

Sasuke was obviously surprised, Sakura was not like him, he’d have never thought she would be missing-nin, even by the looks of some country in which neither of them had served on. His missing-nin status issued by Kumo was no surprise, he had taken the Raikage’s arm, but Sakura was an esteemed healer, every nation knew her as an ally to call when aid was needed. He had learned of her medic expertise when they were entangled in war, she had speared the Medic Division, leading it with Kato Shizune. It was an odd and a self-antagonizing issue from the Kumo leaderance to put her in the wanted list. He found it odd, but if Sakura had left Konoha, then what did he know?

“They won’t send another team.” Sasuke muttered, Sakura hummed, he placed a portable stove into the table and then placed the pot with water over it. “They didn’t bother with me.” He continued as he set the vegetables around the pot, gesturing her to join him in the table. 

She threw the towel around her neck and walked over, helping him place the plates and utensils. They sat facing each other and took turns dunking the vegetables and beef into the boiling water. “Yeah, they’re hoping some mercenaries come and try to claim the prize for my head.” 

He hummed this time, knowing from experience. It was amusing to her, having this kind of conversation with him over dinner. Never in one million years she would have pictured talking to him over dinner like old acquaintances. She guessed that this is what adulthood brought. The world took shades of gray. Like Sasuke’s coloured cushions. They went through a lot in their lives, together and separated, and they both ended where they were. 

Every encounter turned into reason to stop and have a chat about old and present times. They have been once joined at the hip, then turned into enemies, then casual allies. Now they were friends, and the past had turned sweet and sour, but still gone. Sakura had learned that not every promise was meant to be kept, and that it was okay. 

Everyone had their reasons for their actions and sometimes it wasn’t her problem, sometimes the best she could do was say goodbyes until she could go back to say hello’s. 

It felt good to say hello to Sasuke, freeing herself of her selfish thoughts about keeping him where he wouldn’t be happy. Konoha was not Sasuke’s home. And she thought it was okay. Because in the end, she learned it wasn’t hers either. 

Naruto had let her go after goodbyes, because he too had learned that he couldn’t keep people caged because of his selfish feeling of wanting everyone he loved around him. She would still be his Sakura-chan, but she was now far away. And it was okay. It was then that he had given up on finding Sasuke. Because maybe it was time to let him go. They would always love him, but Naruto could not keep putting his life on hold because of him. 

Sakura had learned of the world, Tsunade her teacher even in life, showing her the face of the outside world, guiding Sakura through being just another body in the crowd. Living the life where killing and healing was brushed aside to the back of her mind. Sakura could picture a life of a civilian now, even if she would never be one. 

There was something in the training of shinobi, the way she could mold her chakra to kill and aid at will, the way they could simply turn a casual meeting into a battle with a fickle thought, it tainted them, took away the simple aspects of life and twisted them weirdly for most people. They couldn’t mingle and feel comfortable, it was their nature, even if some of them did it better than others.

Retirement had treated Sakura well, the stress she had used to leaving her body, she turned relaxed, patient, attentive, learning how to behave without having to gauge people’s reactions out of every interaction. How to be clueless without caring, how to deal with the world without responsibility weighting on her shoulders. She did only what she enjoyed, casting away the leashes the Konohan laws had kept on her. Not minding the news from her place of birth, detaching herself from it. 

It had been hard, because once Konoha’s problems had been her problems.

Not anymore. 

“So, what’s keeping you busy this days?” She asked, picking a plate of carrots and carefully sliding them to the water so that it wouldn’t splash, she placed the empty plate back on the table and looked at him. The steam rising from the pot between them had his cheeks and the point of his nose rosy, flushed with warmth, and she smiled as he looked up. Deep black eyes that held the patience of a sage.

“This or that…” He placed the last of the meat within the pot and closed the lid. They both sat watching in anticipation for the food to be ready, hunger making them eager for it. “I’ve got a vegetable garden.” He confided.

Her face flourished in surprise, but her smile was encouraging him to keep going. It was a trait of her, she was always eager to hear other people's opinions and accomplishments, never too bored of it. Sakura was great company. He stood to pick drinks from the fridge and tried to decide whether Sakura would be best inclined towards cold tea or a beer.

“It’s a lot of work, but the village closest from here is too far away, so I thought it would be worth it to give it a try.” He decided on the alcoholic beverage, picking a bottle and placing on the table. She gave him a delighted humm. “Gardening is tough business.” She commented, opening the bottle with her thumb, it hissed and she nodded at it.

As sat down placing the cups on the table, he smiled at her, she was Tsunade’s apprentice after all, of course she would take to her master’s liking of alcohol.

“So we’re eating vegetables harvested by you?” There was mischievousness in her eyes as she gave him a tease, but he only nodded, not really roped into her cheery mood. “They look really good, Sasuke-kun.” She smiled, eyes closing as she took a sip of her drink. 

He was sent in a spiral of thoughts after she uttered the ‘-kun’ after his name, it was such a Sakura thing to do. To hold fondness towards him even after all the horrible things he had said and done to her in his teenage years. Looking at it now, he could admit that he was a sour and angry child, too caught up in his own superiority complex and his goals to be, at least, decent towards people. He had said hurtful things to Sakura and Naruto even before he had left the village, not caring even a little bit if it hurt their feelings. As if the tragedies in his life held him in a pedestal to do whatever he wanted without any consequences. 

Time had teached him that pain was not something that could be measured, and that it was not a reason to put himself above others either. People were emotional beings and the things he did, things he talked, affected others and their lives. Just like the decision his brother took changed him forever, he could be the reason for people to change. 

He guessed that that’s how Naruto had felt all of the time, his teammate had known this even as a snotty kid. That his actions had consequences, that words carried meaning and intentions and that people could change. He wished he had realized all of this sooner. He wished he could have figured that changes for the better were always the best choice. 

If he had known that, maybe he would had made a difference choice. Maybe he wouldn’t have followed his brothers wishes blindly. Maybe he would have found peace without all this tortuous path he had taken. Perhaps, if he had found peace as a kid, he would have actually known this woman in front of him. 

“What about the meat?” She asked curiously, taking a slice of it and sticking it in her mouth, it was tender and flavorful and she sighed in satisfaction. It had been a while since she had a good and tasty home cooked meal like this.

“It’s deer.” Sasuke dipped his meat in the sauce and gestured for her to do the same, she tentatively did the same and tasted the richfulness of the sauce, eyes shining at him, a smile adorning her lips full of brown and shiny sauce.

Sakura ate the meat with different eyes, mind traveling trying to figure if she had ever tasted this type of meat before. She had left Konoha, but not really, assuming the place as a diplomat and dignitary, wrenching commercial and political benefits for her ninja village while accompanying Tsunade in her quest to spend her entire fortune in booze, gambling, food and luxuries. Tsunade had a really extensive bank account, Sakura had taken a glimpse of her bank extract, and the numbers were more impressive than the whole village fundings for an entire year or ten. The blonde was determined in spending her money with her own satisfaction. In a bar conversation once, her master had confided in Sakura that once she died, her money was to be split between Shizune and Sakura equally and that they should do whatever they wanted with it - preferably, waste it with stupid material things, she didn’t really care what as long as it was slightly stupid.

Not that Sakura really needed any money, despite not being in the force formally, she was still in the Konoha payroll, and by the Konoha politics of half pay, in various aided villages too, Sakura bank account had an surprising numbers of zeroes she had no idea what to do with it. Once in Iron, her entire bag of clothes had been accidentally destroyed after an encounter with some rabid snow monkeys and she had to buy herself entire new ninja wardrobe, she had eyed the best clothing store for samurais at the capitol and had picked everything she liked without taking a look at the expensive tags, paying without even thinking of the amount of money it would pick out of her pocket. 

Looking at Sasuke as he was carefully eating wraps of vegetables with rice, she thought that it was just like him, living as if money was never an issue, planting and nursing his own food and land merely because of commodity in opposal to necessity. He could be living just as comfortable in the city, with the entire Uchiha clan funding to keep him in whatever type of lifestyle he choose to live in.

Sakura was busy with trying to make a small village in Wind country make an exclusive clothing deal with the Konoha military, to better the quality of the Konohan uniform in intention to reduce the number of small injuries, when the newest issue of the bingo book had been launched and she was suddenly being targeted as a periculous person. She was extremely dangerous, yes, but she was also a type of entity after the war, a person with good interests in mind, even if those good interests had also the bettering of Konoha behind it. 

She was not really worried, frankly, politically it was stupid for Kumo to issue it, Sakura had made the majority of Konoha’s deals, and that would hurt the legality of the deals, with that in place, she doubted Konoha would turn a blind eye on it, and that it’s large amount of partners would forego the veracity of their, very lucrative, deals in order to capture her and try to get some penny with her head, while jotting the largest ballistically potent village as an enemy. 

Some would try, obviously, but those were mostly Nuke-nin after money to get by, mostly chunin and D and C ranked jounin, not smart enough to know that she was a too dangerous target to try and kill without being wiped out themselves. The fact that she had killed two entire platoons out of Kumo elite ANBU, without any major injury she couldn’t heal herself without wasting much chakra a proof that she was not one to be meddled with unless wanting a quick and painful death. 

Sasuke was the same really, nations, mercenaries and Nuke-nin weren’t after him because it wasn’t worth it, he was too much of a threat, too little probability of success. Besides, they were scared of the retaliation, if the last Uchiha was killed, Konoha was certainly going to flip. Especially with the current Hokage having such a close relationship with the young man.

It was expected, really. For all the members of team seven to turn into important, and powerful entities. Sasuke and Naruto from the moment they were born, Sakura for the moment she was placed under the care of Konoha’s greatest Grey Wolf, Hatake Kakashi of the Sharingan. They were placed under the eyes of many important people and had wiggled inside their hearts, while building themselves to be dangerous and tough assassin children. Suddenly they were all the way up, looking down at the entire society as untouchable and none of them had an idea what to do with so much political power, but to disregard it as something of not much importance. 

Just as the previous team sevens had done. Kakashi had been at the top and had nothing to do with it, not caring a single bit that he was high ranked enough to scoff at the Kages and their politics, because he was dangerous, resourceful and knowledgeable enough to have their threats harmful against him. Jiraiya and Tsunade were mundialy known as entities people were not supposed to touch unless wanting a war to break out. 

Team 7 had built connections all around the world, making friends out of enemies and building themselves an impressive a fan of influenced government and political people to their circle.

Globally known or not, they found satisfaction in simple thing and Sakura and Sasuke enjoyed their meal in comfortable silence, eating while listening to the wind chiming into the good luck pendant tied from the roof, to bring fortune into the house. They drank cheap beer as if it was the elixir of the gods and ate the homemade shabu-shabu as if they were eating the best a Daimyo chef had to offer.

Enjoying the company as if once they had not tried to kill each other, to twisted in the ideologies that soaked their lives and invaded their way of life. Sasuke too wrung in revenge to take a look at the system and the politics of life. Sakura too brainwashed by the system and her loyalties to look at life any other way.

“So, is Naruto sending me an invitation to his wedding or is Kakashi still pretending he doesn’t know exactly where I live and how to get in contact with me?” Sasuke eyed Sakura with a pleased look on his face, an amused smirk present on his lips as he remembered the way Naruto searched for him in their late teen years. Sakura cracked out, laughing and choking in a carrot piece, hitting her chest with a fist as she trying to clear her airways with a gulp out of her glass of beer. 

In fact, Sakura knew Kakashi knew exactly where Sasuke was. The Uchiha was too great of an asset to let disappear, besides, Kakashi’s spy net was the widest Sakura had ever seen, his spymaster could get him any information he wanted in a week max, and with no politicals issues involved in it whatsoever. He had know that Taki had a change of leadership before it was announced to the civilians of Taki themselves, knowing where the last Uchiha had decided to place his butt down and settle was not really all that difficult to get to know. 

Naruto though, had had no idea of it until Kakashi had tossed him Sasuke’s gift to his engagement. The blond had been baffled, not believing in it until he recognized Sasuke’s own handwritten note. 

“It will come.” She waved at him. Not believing Sasuke thought it really that big of a deal, but answering him anyway. “He’ll probably try to invite half the world to his ceremony.” Sasuke snorted at it, nodding at her. Naruto was the type that believed the more the merrier, and Hinata was much too gentle to keep him from inviting everyone to his especial day.

Sakura picked up the bottle to fill her glass and watched as Sasuke stood up to open the shoji doors, making the ambient more ample and filling the space with the outside breeze. He turned the lights and sat back down, picking up his glass and she served his beer, hiding back a smile at their interactions. 

“How about you?” She placed the bottle back on the table and rested her face on her hand, elbows placed on top of the wood, Sasuke picked his chopsticks before taking a look at her, signaling her to keep going. “Thinking about marrying any time soon?” She asked firmly and forthcoming, forgetting all her shyness and teenage awkwardness. 

He stuffed his mouth with food, before resting his hand on his chin, as if thinking about it, she took a long sip of her drink to disguise her eagerness to know the answer. He looked at her in the eyes, turning his head a little. 

“Dunno.” 

She laughed, knowing she would answer the same. 

Romance was something that she had no luck in, she had found different partners along the years, but once her heart had beaten strongly for the very one Uchiha Sasuke, and even if now it wasn’t so desperate, she wouldn’t mind getting involved with him. At least to get to know him a little more physically to quench her curiosity and girly dreams. 

She knew how Uchiha Sasuke was fierce in the battlefield, fighting him was a hard task, he kept her on her toes, making her try her best with her sharp mind and strong body. They were on par with each other, Sasuke was fast, but Sakura’s touch was deadly and she was the best on dodging stances he had ever fought against, coming out of fights unscathed while he was left with some broken limbs. But Sakura had never learned anything about his performance on the inners of his house, how he dealt with things personally, his preferences.

These days she was merely curious, the infatuation dodging her by leaps and bounds. And his answers and behaviour just fuelled her curiosity, making her pick up a thread or another of provocations and follow with it tucked around her head. In truth, she wasn’t sure, but Sasuke seemed to be almost flirting, giving intense stares and smiling at her, giving her leads and hooks to talk on and making sure their company was enabled, providing her with food and never touching the matter of when she should leave, as if she was expected to stay.

For her credit, even if she didn’t know, that was exactly what was happening, Sasuke had taken a look at Sakura and something inside of him had twisted, screaming at him to keep her close, to keep her interested, to reach for her in any way possible. And, Sasuke, a man of violence, of action, had never came across such feeling. He had know he held Haruno Sakura dear in his heart. She was huge part of his life, taking place in his most important moments. She held significance, but never before had he felt such urge to touch her, to keep her close to him. He had looked at her and realized how beautiful she was, how she enticed his carnal wishes. 

He had not given a thought about giving her the opportunity to leave, giving her the entirety of his attention, and she had done the same, they entangled themselves in their issues, creating a comfortable environment where everything that seemed important was each other and the flow of their conversation. 

“Are you interested in settling down?”

He was no newcomer to the way of words, he didn’t always use the best ways to voice things, making him sound ignorant, but by no means he wasn’t phrased on it, he knew how to use his words to get what he wanted, he just usually didn’t care with it. Now he used all the ambivalence he could, making Sakura look at him with half-closed eyes and an untrustful stare. She did not understand where he was going with this, if he was just tossing the question as means to keep the conversation going or if he wanted the answer to star any sort of scheme. Curiosity would take her only so far, and if he gave her too many openings it might give her the keys to opening her heart to him and unlocking old feelings she didn’t know would do any good in their current situation. 

“Have not thought of it, no.” She answered it, taking the subject as closed and moving on. 


	3. Would I know you?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Would you be who you are now if those things hadn’t happened?” He asks.  
> Her eyes stare at him, making a hole on his purpose, on his soul. Sakura’s eyes shine like the stars and it is hard to keep away from them. She slides her fingers between his and their grip is strong. He latches on to the feeling of her skin on his.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry guys, I have been really sick this last months and it's even harder with my entire routine gone.   
> I have online classes now, they are harder to latch on because of my adhd and I spent most of the time feeling guilty I can't study and I think a lot a bout his fic but getting my computer means I have time to do other things, like studing, so I haven't been writing.  
> My shoulder pain is still a bitch, but depression has been my main issue for five years now and I've been having a hard time.  
> This chapter is small, I'm sorry.   
> Truth is, I feel like all the chapters so far are on the small side and I have been trying my best but, setting the tones is really hard. I promise the next ones will get bigger.

Naruto walked at a leisure pace through the hallways of the Fire Tower, there were countless ninja mingling about in the building, he twiddled a scroll in his fingers as his head turned to every cluster of shinobi around, giving space for the civilians about, booking missions, being escorted to and fro. He had a relaxed posture, familiar with the ambient, these hallways were his most recurrent place, mostly because of the Jounin lounge in the sixth floor, or maybe Kakashi’s office. Being the Sixth Hokage’s student gave him free pass around anywhere in the room. 

He was probably the highest ranking ninja after Kakashi himself. It felt good, to watch the elders squirm as he could not be kicked out of any room when they wanted to do their stupid schemes. It irked them the most that Naruto had turned into the second coming of both Kakashi and Jiraiya, not a single caring cell in his soul, sans the perverted hobbies. Naruto could not give two shits about anything going around in this building. No one had the guts to try and manipulate him into anything. He had sealed a god, he had saved the world once or twice. No one wanted in in his blacklist. 

Sakura had been the same, but she was soft, the politics made her angry, annoyed, she had left because she wanted to be free. Naruto was free in Konoha. 

He hoped his teammates felt free wherever they were. 

He trudged his teacher’s door open, not bothering to knock. Kakashi sat in the windowsill, legs dangling, watching the village. Documents mounted his desk, endless amount of issues that had to be trampled with singularly and given an amount of significant attention. Shizune sat comfortably at his armchair, wearing her lab coat and clipboard in hand. 

“Brought’ya some trouble.” He hurled the scroll through the air, it felt neatly over one of the paper stacks. 

“Oh?” Kakashi jumped back into the room, and picked it up, not battering an eye at the endless pile of documents. He threw a book at Naruto, blue and small, the blonde recognized the monthly issued bingo book. “Huh, thought mine was actualized enough.” Naruto mumbled, picking to take a good look at its cover.

“Page fifty-five.” Shizune stated, laying back on her seat, clamping the clipboard with two hands. She held a dissatisfied expression, eyes cold. Kakashi did not give anything away as Naruto flapped through pages, finally stopping at the number fifty-five, eyes widening at seeing Sakura’s face. The words around it amusing him as he closed the book, looking back at his teacher. 

“Kumo’s going through some problems, it seems.” Kakashi answered his chuckle with a wave of his hand. Eyes scanning his late student’s report. Naruto groaned, taking a seat at Kakashi’s chair, almost flattening the Hokage’s hat with his bum. 

“She’ll be fine. It’s Sakura-chan.” Naruto mumbled, dismissing Shizune’s troubled stare. “Kumo’s going to have trouble, though. They’ll be down some elite after this.” His comment ripped a snort from the Hokage, Shizune scowled at them. She couldn’t help but be worried, yet she knew that Sakura’s body had turned a weapon on itself, the girl would have trouble dying even if she tried.

“Tsunade hasn’t seen her in a week.” Shizune uttered as she stroked her face with a sigh. “We don’t know where she is.”

“Good” Kakashi stated as he stamped the scroll and strolled towards the door. “Then neither will them.” He reached the wood frame, grasping the handle and turning to them as he opened the door. “She’s a big girl, she’ll take care of herself.

At Shizune’s sigh Naruto gave back a smile, picking himself up from the chair and taking a look at the documents at the table. He busied himself by reading the papers that were for the Hokage’s eyes only, not having a blink of shame on his face. He was the one picking through Kakashi’s paperwork this days, learning how to deal with boring issues as they were sent to the office, to be decided by their leader. 

He sat on the corner of the desk, a big file in hand and took a look at Shizune’s preoccupied face, before sighing at her.

“We’ll file for unauthorized and troubling matter against the treaty of peace. There’s no need to be so worried.” He told her, watching as she stood from her chair and placed the clipboard in the middle of the mess of papers. Probably some file from the hospital, if he or Kakashi were lucky it wasn’t anything to do with budgeting, because those made his head hurt like hell by the amount of mere numbers and technicalities. “She’ll be fine, once this matter reaches the hand of the peace treaty council, she’ll be taken out of the book.”

Shizune eyed him dismissively, hands patting her pants and coat to undo any wrinkles her worried posture in the armchair may have caused. 

“She’ll still be hunted until then.” She glided through the room, words ringing in her ears.

“We’ve all been hunted before, on team seven.” Naruto watched as the medic-nin opened the door and looked at him. “It’s nothing new, I doubt she’s worried about it.” 

* * *

  
  


She sat on the porch, eyeing the stars and listening to the crickets, her legs dangled as she rested her weight on her hands behind her. She could hear Sasuke’s footsteps on the kitchen, his chakra bright, burning in her mind's eye. 

Sakura wished she found a place to settle down, peaceful and beautiful like this. Where she would busy herself with house chores, sit down to have tea, watch the sundown stationary, seeing time go by with newfound peace and patience.

Sasuke joined her in the porch some time later. He sat down, handing her a whetstone as he started sharpening some weapons, elbowing her to do the same. She laughed at him, picking his weapons to sharpen first. They sat in amicable silence, tainting the ambient with the sound of metal on stone. Sasuke seemed more comfortable in his own skin, in a way he had not been in their childhood years. 

None of them bothered by sitting in silence for too long, the leisure idle teaching them to be patient in every occasion. Sasuke took this time to watch her, Sakura had been a strange constant in his life, she had never angered him, he had always watched her with curiosity over any other feeling that would claim his mind whenever he met Kakashi or Naruto. 

Sasuke had spent so many of his years with his head wrapped around one single goal that everything else lost focus, he had belittled learning about his teammates, finding ways to keep his time better spent elsewhere. But there were things he could not oversee. Like Naruto’s undying love for ramen. Kakashi’s preference towards the colder weather. Yet, Sakura had always been bland, the things he actually knew about her were few and almost always linked to her skills as an active ninja. Like how she liked twirling shuriken between fingers when they were on break from training.

A mysterious woman, indeed. At least in his eyes. She had witch like eyes, hair as unique as herself, great strength hidden under thin limbs and petite body. Intelligence masked by a pretty face. She was dangerous. As dangerous as a ninja could get, maybe even more. They had defeated a god. The nations had casted a new eye upon them, finding in the team of youth from Konoha a new type of entity in the balances, ones that should not be measured with.

So yes, Haruno Sakura was very, very dangerous. 

Maybe in the way he knew her but didn’t.

But she was also tender.

Sasuke could picture her sitting at home tending to children, or fighting her way out of danger in the battlefield, killing when needed, without hesitation. Just like he could picture her nursing people back to health, or eyeing a Kage eye to eye, holding herself by sheer pressure and strength. He didn’t know what of these could be real, because this woman in front of him held coils of puzzlings actions behind her sleeve. And he could crack his head, but never get to know who exactly was her. The healer, the killer, the nurturer, the fighter.

She was everything in once. 

It would slip through his fingers, because Sasuke had always been only a killer his entire life, he had raised to it. Never in his life his future held anything but action, violence. Every action he had ever took was coated in it. Even away from the fight, most of his routine was to keep his body sharp and fit so that he could survive another battle. 

Sasuke was never anything but a ninja.

Sakura on the other hand was a multitude of things. And it was confusing to place everything under one single person. 

It made him want to know her, every aspect of what she was. 

Always curious, indeed.

“You know, sometimes I get myself thinking…” He stares at her eyes as she speaks, soft, low, kind and gentle. “What was the point of everything we’ve done until now?” She looks up at the sky, infinite and dark, with stars twinkling by the millions above them, shining even if it’s glow was not as powerful as the sun. “The revenge, the chasing, the death, the war...” She twirls the sharpened kunai with defty fingers. “Do they even matter now?”

He drops the weapon in his hand and soften his hold on the whetstone, he thinks about it, letting the silence stretch around them, she waits, knowing that he always finds something interesting to say when he has time to ponder.

“Would you be who you are now if those things hadn’t happened?” He asks.

Her eyes stare at him, making a hole on his purpose, on his soul. Sakura’s eyes shine like the stars and it is hard to keep away from them. She slides her fingers between his and their grip is strong. He latches on to the feeling of her skin on his. She closes her eyes and he feels the need to engrave the picture of her under the starlight inside his brain. So that he can keep it forever, to revisit it when things doesn’t seem so good. 

“There were just so many possibilities.” She whispers.

The wind carries her words away. They sit in silence, listening to the crickets and the rustle of the leaves, they can hear everything and nothing and it’s the best feeling ever. To sit down with the sky on their heads, feeling small and unimportant, at the same time feeling very aware of where they are, and who they are, and why they reached this point. 

It’s like meditation, and Sasuke can feel the way Sakura’s chakra thread inside her, strong, patient, with meaning. Sakura’s chakra is controlled, but it is, in a way, wild, different.

It fits him, because he is the exact opposite and he likes the way his chakra seems to follow hers, the way they mingle even energetically. It feels good to have the comfort of her electric and cold chakra again after so many years, and he misses Naruto, because he is also a part of their puzzle. 

He takes a breath of fresh air, before he resumes sharpening his tools, head down, eyes on his hands. “We think too much.” 

Her laughter echoes in the air and he can’t help the way his lips stretch on a smile.

* * *

They fall asleep under the moonlight, their lullaby is the sound of the nature around them, but before that, they talk. About everything and nothing.

The world is suddenly very numb and their words linger heavy around them.

“When I was really small, I used to think that I would grow up to be this incredible hero…” Sakura murmurs against the wind, her voice so soft that Sasuke thinks he can feel it in his skin. “I wish I had wanted to be something simpler.” Her eyes are deep and he can’t tear his look away because they glimmer like a thousand galaxies and he feels like if he blinks it’ll be gone and he will never see it again.

Sakura laughs and it’s a melody that echoes in his head from a million angles and he can’t get enough of. 

It’s good. Not to be alone again.

Better yet that Sakura is great company material.

“Do you regret what you’ve become?” His voice is timid, afraid this is the wrong question, and he does not look at her, finally straying away from her face to stare back at the stars. 

The truth is that Sasuke is insecure, he doesn’t exactly know where to draw the boundaries or limits with his old teammates. He had spent too much time away from people and relationships that are 

in any way to know where he is just being curious or outright rude. But Sakura looks at him like he is the sun and she never gets upset when he asks her questions, and that makes him comfortable enough to ask more, because he doesn’t know any other way to get to know her besides asking her all the wrong questions until he eventually asks the right one.

Right now Sakura watches him, and she 

him, she sees the creases between his eyes and the tiny frown on his left cheek, the way his eyes hover over her but never look at her eyes directly, she sees that he is insecure. And is okay, because they are young too, and even though they’ve fought wars and played manipulative games, even though they had knives hanging right over their heads ever since they were small children, they are still young, and there are things they don’t know. 

Sakura is a great people person, Sasuke is not. It’s okay though, because he still has plenty of time to learn, and she doesn’t mind teaching him. She is a very patient woman.

“No, I don’t.” She smiles at him, a smile that stretches her lips but do not show teeth, but her eyes kind of close too and he thinks she looks a little bit adorable that way. “I really like what I have become. But sometimes I can’t help but think that simpler things would have made me happier.” And he turns to her, sliding his body in the wooden boards so that he doesn’t have to turn his head to see her. “Like what?”

“Oh I don’t know… Maybe I could have been a baker, or a librarian.” Sasuke can picture her being anything she wants to be, because Sakura is one of the most hardworking people he had ever met in his life, she is also really, really smart. He doesn’t think she would have failed at achieving anything.

“We probably wouldn’t have known each other then...” 

And she keeps on smiling, and Sasuke knows that it sounds cheesy. But if Naruto is the sun and Sasuke is the moon, Sakura is the stars, because she is everything they could possibly be and so much more. Sakura can create and destroy, she can split and mend, she is a fighter, a healer, a teacher, a friend, and she can be much, much more. 

“It’s okay, Sasuke.” She bumps his nose with her pinky finger, eyes shining with mischief. “I would have found a way to annoy you, no matter what I could have been.”

Sasuke had always found Sakura a little bit overwhelming, but now he is overwhelmed by her all of the time, and he doesn’t feel like letting go of this feeling. 

It’s really good knowing he can rely on someone to be there, for whatever the circumstances. The only person he had before was himself, and he was not famous for taking good conclusions or having productive ideas, even if they did work sometimes.

Like, you know, smiling at Sakura and falling asleep next to her, on the back porch of his farm house, in the middle of nowhere, listening to the crickets and cicadas, feeling the cool autumn breeze and paying special attention to the beating of each other's hearts.

That, was in fact, an amazingly good idea. 


End file.
